USGS-NWQL: I-1900:  Zinc, dissolved, atomic absorption spectrometric

  • Summary
  • Analytes
  • Revision
  • Data and Sites
Official Method Name
Zinc, atomic absorption spectrometric, direct
Current Revision
1965
Media
WATER
Instrumentation
Flame Atomic Absorption
Method Subcategory
Inorganic
Method Source
  USGS-NWQL
Citation
Methods for the Determination of Inorganic Substances in Water and Fluvial Sediments, Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations of the United States Geological Survey, Book 5, Chapter A1 Edited by Marvin J. Fishman and Linda C. Friedman
Brief Method Summary
Zinc is determined by atomic absorption spectrometry by direct aspiration of the sample into an air-acetylene flame. The procedure may be automated by the addition of a sampler and either a strip-chart recorder or a printer or both.
Scope and Application
This method may be used to analyze water containing from 10 to 500 ug/L of zinc. Sample solutions containing more than 500 ug/L need to be diluted or to be read on a less expanded scale.
Applicable Concentration Range
10 to 500 ug/L
Interferences
Magnesium at concentrations greater than 100 mg/L interferes unless other cations, such as sodium, are present in the sample.
Individual concentrations of sodium, potassium, sulfate, chloride (9,000 mg/L of each), calcium (4,500 mg/L), nitrate (2,000 mg/L), iron (4 X 106 ug/L), and cadmium, nickel, copper, lead, cobalt, and chromium (10,000 ug/L each) do not interfere. Greater concentrations of each constituent were not investigated.
Samples containing 100 mg/L of silica cause no interference; however, zinc recovery is approx. 10 percent low in samples containing 200 mg/L of silica.
Quality Control Requirements
Calibrate instrument using calibration standards (CAL); quality control samples (QCS); and laboratory blanks (LB) analyzed at a minimum of 1 for every 10 samples.
Sample Handling
Container Description: 250 mL polyethylene bottle, nitric acid rinsed
Treatment and handling: Filter through 0.45-um filter, use filtered sample to rinse container, acidify sample with nitric acid to pH <2
Maximum Holding Time
180 days
Relative Cost
Less than $50
Sample Preparation Methods